The story behind that iconic Posh Spice outfit

(Image credit: 2012 Photoshot)

In all the history of the Spice Girls, perhaps the most iconic outfit - after Geri's Union Jack dress of course - was Posh Spice's PVC catsuit.

Well she wore several to be fair, they were kind of her thing at the time. Remember the silver one she wore in Who Do You Think You Are? black one she wore in the Say You'll Be There video? Rumour has it that's when David Beckham fell in love with her.

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UK designer Dee Izmail created over 80 different outfits for the Spice Girls, and she recalled the similar black PVC catsuit she designed for one of the band's videos, saying, 'This was a piece I designed for the club scene and something that I felt was a bit of who I am as both a designer and personally. Victoria looked great in it!'

She was also the creative mind behind another iconic VB look: the chainmail top and silver skirt she wore in the Spice Girls' Pepsi ad. 'Victoria wore my chainmail top and silver skirt for the girls’ Pepsi campaign. The pieces were inspired by my Space Odyssey collection and were perfect for the metallic theme the girls were running with,' she said.

Dee created outfits for all Spice Girls, and that included the green dress Baby Spice, aka Emma Bunton wore to meet Prince Harry back in 1997 when they were playing a gig in South Africa and Prince Charles and his son were visiting.

The singer wore a light green dress, which Dee designed specifically. She says, 'I was approached to design a dress for Emma for the Spice Girls’ tea with Prince Harry and knew whatever I made had to be luxurious and not too baby girl, while still having the essence and playfulness of the Baby Spice character. Emma then went on to wear the dress in one of the girls’ music videos, too!'

Penny Goldstone

Penny Goldstone is the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire, covering everything from catwalk trends to royal fashion and the latest high street and Instagram must-haves.

Penny grew up in France and studied languages and law at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University in Paris before moving to the UK for her MA in multimedia journalism at Bournemouth University. She moved to the UK permanently and has never looked back (though she does go back regularly to stock up on cheese and wine).

Although she's always loved fashion - she used to create scrapbooks of her favourite trends and looks, including Sienna Miller and Kate Moss' boho phase - her first job was at MoneySavingExpert.com, sourcing the best deals for everything from restaurants to designer sales.

However she quit after two years to follow her true passion, fashion journalism, and after many years of internships and freelance stints at magazines including Red, Cosmopolitan, Stylist and Good Housekeeping, landed her dream job as the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire UK.

Her favourite part of the job is discovering new brands and meeting designers, and travelling the world to attend events and fashion shows. Seeing her first Chanel runway IRL at Paris Fashion Week was a true pinch-me moment.